Also in Bilbao, the Guggenheim. Know who built the Guggenheim? Ferrovial. They also built the new terminal at Madrid Barajas. And a bunch of other really cool buildings.
Well, this is meant to help you keep up with another fascinating (read: mundane) part of my life.
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Day 1
Day one was pretty much an orientation to the job. My boss, Ricardo, took me around to the different sites he is working on, the National Historical Archives of Euskadi (my site), the first phase of a restoration project at the University of Deusto and a prison out by San Sebastian. It was all really neat to see, especially my project which is a very early stage of construction.
And while it was all very interesting, I almost fell asleep the entire afternoon. San Sebastian is an hour from Bilbao, and car rides tend to put me to sleep if they last longer than ten minutes. It took all my concentration to stay awake during the car ride. Then, after getting back, they had me looking at the site plans for hours. While very interesting at first, after looking at the same drawings with different information for hours on end could put anybody to sleep.
Luckily I did get a little break from this to watch the workers pour a concrete slab of the third underground floor. Being on a construction site of a considerable magnitude got me really excited, I was finally experiencing things that I have always wanted to. I got to see the workers execute all the things Hover talked about in my concrete course a year ago. For a civil engineer like me, this was the best I could imagine.
Sadly, after about an hour they brought me back to the office to look through more plans. Ugh. I had already finished looking through them all. I just sat there flipping through drawings, hoping they would tell me to go home.
At around 7:30 they finally said, oh, Zach, you could have gone home an hour ago. I thought to myself, well you could have told me an hour ago. Oh well, all in all I think it is going to be a good experience. Hopefully I will have some shorter work days and more responsibilities in the future.
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Day 2
Nothing changed too much. I still felt a little out of place today. They actually gave me some things to do, but I had really no idea what or why I was doing it for the most part. They had me calculate the weight of steel they were going to use, which wasn’t too bad. Then they had me calculate the amount of hollow spaces on a floor. I am not sure why. Either way, it had me staring at more plans, kind of guessing at obscure measurements, and waiting around.
Yesterday and today we went to lunch together. This is one of the more awkward parts of the day. I have nothing to say in the conversations usually because they are talking about work and it is only my second day. Today wasn’t too different until one guy told me essentially that American food is shit. Really, Spanish man? Have you ever eaten it? No. Spanish food is limited. In the US, we eat almost every ethnic food you can think of. Walk into a Wegman’s and then walk into a Lupa and you will understand how varied our food is.
He was then arguing that Americans only eat meat, no fish. Now, that is true for me, but I didn’t say that. I told him on the coasts they do because it is fresh. Then he told me that in Madrid they eat way more fish than us and they are in the middle of the country. Well sir, Madrid is hardly as far away from the ocean as Kansas. Give me a break and back off from my country. We eat well enough, thank you.
Day 3
I actually felt like I did something today. I mean, I did not fill up my day with productivity, but I felt useful.
Right away they sent me down to the site to do inventory! Yay! And that is not sarcastic. For some reason (and this is why I know I should be a civil engineer) I love being on site. There is something about being part of a project that will have a great impact that is really exciting to me. Well, we got a shipment of steel things today and I had to make sure everything came.
At first this was difficult. I wasn’t sure which items were which, especially since things didn’t quite add up and they were all stacked on top of each other. I was a little slow and confused starting off, but then I started to figure things out. Some of the members were moved down into the site before I got a chance to count them. That meant I got to venture down to where the real work was happening. It felt so good to be surrounded by heavy machinery, cranes lowering large steel wall pieces, men welding, freshly poured concrete (jesus, I really am nerdy).
Afterwards they had me back to calculating hollow spaces, but unlike yesterday, I figured out why later. After lunch I had to calculate how much steel would be used on each level. This is where the hollow spaces came in. Apparently I was figuring out the area that steel would fill, and that allowed me to figure out the amount of steel needed. I get it. Well, that was it for day three.
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Day 4
Day 4 was along the same lines of Day 3, yeah I felt like I did something productive, but not too much. I did more calculations of the same type as before, finding how much steel was going to be needed in the floors and walls. I don’t get any feedback, so I have no idea how off my numbers are, but I don’t think they really expect me to do too much.
In the morning I also got to go back down to the site. I love being on site. Today I first followed around Ricardo as he did some inspections and explained to me how the temporary support system of each level worked during construction. He then asked me if I wanted to go back up to the office or just stay on site. Obviously I didn’t want to stare at plans and pretend to carry out some very important calculations. No, instead I just hung out on site, watching the crew place rebar supports for the new concrete wall and set up new temporary supports for the next level to go in.
Oh, and a guy asked me if I was mute. Actually, the same guy who was telling me about American food. I don't like this guy. No, I am not mute, I just have nothing to say in your conversation about your family in Rioja. Sorry, I am just not that interested in the topic. Maybe if you want to tell me more about my culture though I could have an opinion.
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Since Days 5 and 6 were pretty much the same as the previous days they don’t necessarily warrant their own passages. I did more calculations, and then more calculations. I didn’t go to the site at all, though. Usually I love being on site, but Day 5 was terrible out. It was 40 degrees Celsius outside, which translates to 104 degrees in Fahrenheit. HOT!
A few good things happened though. Yesterday (Day 5) Guillermo, probably the funniest guy in the office, told me about all the fiestas I have to go to while in Basque Country. He chided me for going back to Santander over the weekend and kept raving about an international paella competition. How international could a paella competition get? Well, probably just me, but still, it sounded interesting.
Today (Day 5) Guillermo was really proud about something he knew about a Zack in Wisconsin. He kept quoting the movie An Officer and a Gentleman in which apparently a sergeant says, “The only two things from [insert place here] are steers and queers, and I don't see any horns on you boy.” I couldn’t help but laugh that this is all that someone knows about Wisconsin. Oh well.
I also got my lunch coupons. I don’t think I mentioned yet, but we go to the same place for lunch every day. We always get a three course meal, and I am always out 12 euro, or close to 18 dollars, while everyone uses their coupons to save 9 euros. Well, I have those coupons now too! Finally, I found out that on the 4th of July there is a holiday in Vizcaya, which means I have the day off! Yes, today was a good day.
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Day 7
Wow, Day 7 was the worst of all the days so far. I feel like they practically forgot I came into work. Right away I went into my boss’s office to show him what I completed and see if he had anything else for me to start working on. He told me he would be right with me, so I went to my desk and waited. After a little bit, I decided to double check some of my numbers that I had calculated the day before.
Long story short, 8 hours later he came back to me and said we would talk about what I will be doing tomorrow. What? Really? What was the point of me sitting at my desk trying to feign work? Whatever.
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Week 3
Okay, since most of what I did for the past week (and a half) was pretty much repetitive, I will smoosh everything into one entry.
Week 3 (and a bit of Week 2) was pretty much about calculations. I had to measure the length of air ducts in all the plans and calculate the square footage for the entire building. It was a lot of must measuring, measuring and remeasuring. I got to go down to the site a few times and watch the crew do what it does. They now have another level built!
During the entire week they told me the dos and don’ts of San Fermin (the Running of the Bulls). Don’t run. Do drink. Don’t jump of the fountain into the crowd. Do start drinking now at lunch. Don’t let any of your friends run. Do dress up in the typical red and white outfits. Don’t act too much like a guiri (a not so affectionate term for tourists).
That pretty much sums up the week.
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Week 4
This week I saw myself turn into somewhat of a secretary. Great!
Yes, they had me making copies and answering the phone, an engineering degree truly put to the test. I am not going to lie, answering the phone is a little bit stressful, after all, I do have to answer in Spanish and have only been with the company a few short weeks. Turns out most people are asking for a guy who is on vacation I just have to tell them his email. Still, stressful.
I also have been down at the site signing off for deliveries of concrete and matching up where they were placed with the plans. It is pretty interesting as far as my work goes because I learned all about this in Hover’s class. I see test companies taking their samples, I have to guard the super plasticizer and they are using a pump to place like I learned about. Neat, right?
I also measured some more things, like the volume of steel needed to hold up the glass curtain wall in the front of the building.
All in a week’s work.
Oh, fun fact: the two factories from where we get our concrete delivered are both on strike so our drivers need body guards! Fun!
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Final Weeks 5 & 6
Like usual, the work was slow and few and far between. I spent some time staring at my desk. I spent some time doing calculations and measurements. I spent some time down at the site just watching. And I spent some time down at the site receiving concrete trucks.
A few things stuck out about Week 5. Well, mainly the Friday of Week 5. For some reason the guy in charge of the site was having a bad day. I think it was the weather combined with work stress. Anyways, he wanted a drink after lunch so he bought us a round. He bought me a shot of orujo, this liquor they make in the north of Spain, kind of like vodka or baileys depending on the flavor. Well, I took this like a shot, because, well, that’s how I know to drink small amounts of liquor that come in a shot glass. The bosses thought it was incredible and made me do it again for another boss. Then we went back to the office but on the way stopped at a bar. They bought me another shot and we watched the Tour de France.
Week 6 was pretty short. We had Monday off so I went to Paris for the final stage of the Tour de France. I got back Tuesday morning at 8:30. I start work at 9:00. So I went straight to work without showering or changing or anything. They gave me no work the whole day so I almost passed out at my desk.
Later in the week they had me receiving more concrete deliveries and then editing the budget. Soon enough it was my last day. It was almost bittersweet. I felt a little sad leaving the office that day. Although I make it sound like I did nothing, I did learn a bunch and really enjoyed being on site. I even started to enjoy my coworkers. Well, thank you Ferrovial.
